Confessions of An Economic Hit Man

Find out more about this important book and the worldwide movement it has spawned at www.economichitman.com. A New York Times bestseller! Read what people are saying about this book and join the conversation--visit our Confessions blog today. Read a transcript of John Perkins' recent interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! Read David Korten's review on www.dragonflymedia.com An extraordinary, real-life tale of international intrigue and corruption Reveals the hidden mechanics of imperial control behind such major international events as the fall of the Shah, the death of Panamanian president Omar Torrijos, and the invasions of Panama and Iraq, as well as providing an inside view of the corrupt U.S.-Saudi Arabian relationship. One man's personal journey from eager servant of empire to impassioned advocate for the rights of oppressed people. In his controversial book, John Perkins tells the gripping tale of the years he spent working for an international consulting firm where his job was to convince underdeveloped countries to accept enormous loans, much bigger than they really needed, for infrastructure development--and to make sure that the development projects were contracted to U. S. multinationals. Once these countries were saddled with huge debts, the American government and the international aid agencies allied with it were able, by dictating repayment terms, to essentially control their economies. It was not unlike the way a loan shark operates--and Perkins and his colleagues didn't shun this kind of unsavory association. They referred to themselves as "economic hit men." This is a story of international political intrigue at the highest levels. For over a decade Perkins traveled all over the world--Indonesia, Panama, Ecuador, Columbia, Saudi Arabia, Iran--and worked with men like Panamanian president Omar Torrijos, who became a personal friend. He helped implement a secret scheme that funneled billions of Saudi petrodollars back into the U. S. economy, and that further cemented the intimate relationship between the Islamic fundamentalist House of Saud and a succession of American administrations. Perkins' story illuminates just how far economic hit men were willing to go, and unveils the real causes of some of the most dramatic developments in recent history, such as the fall of the Shah of Iran and the invasions of Panama and Iraq. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which many people urged Perkins not to write, are a blistering attack on a little-known phenomenon that has had dire consequences for both the lesser-developed countries and for American democracy.

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This book should be required reading for anyone in HS and older. Learn how our country is screwing over the world. Raping their natural resources for our own gains ... (esp the oil companies) Destroying the rain forests; ending the growth of plants that could eventually save our lives, just so US Corps can make more and more profit. Not only that, we force these countries to borrow money that they will never be able to pay back at the interest rates we charge them, so they will be beholden to us eternally (or whenever this planet dies ... whichever comes first)

WARNING: This story will make you sad and nauseous ... but should be read to inspire us to become more proactive in our politics here.

This book is generally truthful (again, in the general sense only), but do take a skeptical attitude towards this. Perkins does a "tell all" ONLY after he's got all his money from them - - also, Perkins is evidently too spineless to state that he was working for either the Cabot Corporation, or a subsidiary of them. What he describes, Booz-Allen has long been guilty of, yet another "economic hitman firm." Real whistleblowers do so ASAP, not after they've retired with great pensions and perks from Cigna, or this guy from this firm, and so on. (The four Middle Eastern countries which didn't sign on to the banksters' WTO Financial Services Agreement were Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria. Iraq and Libya have been taken care of, now we await Syria and Iran and the aggression aimed at those two countries?)

you remember the coalition of the willing? you wonder where the allies that support the USA's belligerent military escapades into the middle east come from?

there are these "economic hitmen" that go into developing nations and loan money that, more likely than not, will not be repaid. instead, this loan sharking or predatory lending develops a dependence by these countries on the USA and allows us to use them much like a mafioso would his debtors.

this is a very tragic book that pulls the curtains back and shows you just what those ivy-leaguers are doing behind the scenes to make this country great, and you will feel sorry for these countries that have no choice but to follow america's orders.

This autobiography is an intriguing story of an economic hit man. It is the balance of a personal confession story and an insight to the history of American economics and it's impact of world politics. The books starts off slow but gets better towards the end. John Perkins has a list of notes and references for anyone wanting further information.